Hydro wing ship



A il 20, 1955 I 7 WA! PO LOO 3,179,077

HYDRO WING SHIP Filed Jan. 21, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Wa/ Po L00 April 20, 1965 WAI PO LOO 3,179,077

HYDRO WING SHIP Filed Jan. 21, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 wtgk l :P

INVENTOR Wm P0 L 00 April 20, 1965 w P0 LQQ 3,179,077

HYDRO WING SHIP Filed Jan. 21, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

Wa/ Po Lao April 20, 1965 WAl PO LOO 3,179,077

HYDRO WING SHIP Filed Jan. 21, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VENTOR- Wcu' Pa.400

April 20, 1965 WA! PO LOO HYDRO WING SHIP 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan.21, 1965 United States Patent 3,179,077 HYDRO WING SHIP Wai Po L00, thFloor, 17 Nanking St., Kowloon, Hong Kong Filed Jan. 21, 1963, Ser. No.252,762 5 Claims. (Cl. 114-665} This invention relates to a novel butuseful form of ship designated by me as a Hydro-Wing ship whichpossesses the following outstanding functional, operational and tacticalcapabilitiesz' (1) My main object is to design this hydro-wing ship as ahigh speed aircraft carrier of a very much smaller size than aconventional aircraft carrier and having a tentative capacity of a fewplanes only. By virtue of its relatively small size and high speed, thetactical advantage of an ocean-striking force comprising a number ofthese ships are maximum mobility, maneuverability, dispersal but minimumexposure as objects for enemy attack. The cost of construction, assuggested by the structural features which are within the capability ofpresent-day ship-building industries, can reasonably be expected to becomparable to that of a conventional merchant ship of equal displacementcapacity.

(2) Because of its relatively small size, high speed andmaneuverability, it can also be modified and used (with the properequipment and weapons) as a destroyer, a submarine chaser, or as anassault-troop landing craft.

(3) Because my design of this Hydro-Wing ship retains the full floatingcapacity of a conventional merchant ship of equal tonnage, it has thefurther potential of being converted for nonmilitary' applications suchas cargo ship, Whaler, or passenger ship.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention,several exemplary emboidments of the invention are illustrated in thehereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying five sheets ofdrawings and are described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a reduced-size perspective view of one exemplary embodiment ofthe hydro-wing ship of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the center line ofthe exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1 in thedirection of the arrows 2-2 there FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 butillustrates a slightly modified form of the inventionwith respect to thehydro-wing means at the bottom of the ship, which in this modificationcomprises a tandem arrangement including two longitudinally spacedhydro-wing portions of shorter chordwise extent than the singlehydro-wing portion of the first form of the invention as best shown inFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, looking aft, taken in the direction ofthe arrows 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the exemplary first form of the hydro-wingship of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1 and, in particular,shows the top plan view of the aircraft landing deck at the top thereof.

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the rear end or stern of the novelhydro-wing ship of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the front end, bow or stern end ofthe novel hydro-wing ship of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view looking downwardly toward the lower portionof the ship and taken in the direction of the arrows 8-8 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view looking downwardly toward the lower portionof the ship and taken in the direction of the arrows 99 of FIG. 2.

A conventional hull is to be divided and parted along the longitudinalcenter line, from stem to stern; the planes of separation l on bothhalves (now being open) are to be completely covered and close-d up withnew plates 1 to form two floating hulls 2 and 13 (see FIG. 8); these twoparted-hulls 2 and 3 are then interchanged in position, left to rightand right to left, but placed further apart and parallel, at a lateralclearance distance equal to the span of an air-plane plus a sidewiseclearance; the two parted-hulls 2 and 3 are then permanently and rigidlyconnected by three major bridge-like structures at difier ent levels(see FIG. 6 and FIG. 7); (a) the hydro-wing 4 at the lowest level, (11)the hangar and take-off deck at mid-level, and (c) the landing deck 6and navigation bridge 7 at the top level. This arrangement forms thebasic configuration.

The hydro-wing 4 (see FIG. 2) which is normally sub-merged under water,is shaped like an airfoil or wing section with the left and right endsattached to the parted hulls Z and 3, and with the leading edge reachingthe stem and the trailing edge extending to the stern. (Alternatively,two hydro-wings of shorter chord lengths may be attached in tandeminstead of a long one, depending on the speed range desired. These twoshorter hydro-wings S and 9 are shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 8.) When theship moves forward at cruising speed or faster, the water flowing pastthe hydro-wing 4 (or 3 and 9) creates a hydrodynamic lift in exactly thesame manner as the aerodynamic lift created by an airplane wing in anair stream. As a result, the front portion of the partedhulls 2 and 3will be raised above water (see FIG. 1); drag and resistance are greatlyreduced; and high speed is thus possible.

Referring to FIGURES 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, it can be seen that there are twoauxiliary hydro-wings 1t) and 11, one on each side of the hulls 2 and 3respectively, and at the same level under water, of shorter but equalspans. These auxiliary hydro-wings also contribute a certain amount oflift, and in addition, serves to reduce pitching and rolling of the shipand thus improves stability.

At the stern and across the full width of the ship (see FIGS. 2, 3, and8) are a row of vertical and horizontal segmental rudders 12. Thehorizontal rudders can be controlled and actuated individually orsimultaneously for trimming action. In addition, there are fore and aftpeak tanks 13 (see FIG. 8) used to regulate the trim of the ship and theangle of incidence of the hydro-wing.

The watertight bulkheads 14 are of conventional construction and need noelaboration.

Referring to FIGURES 2, 3, 5 and 7 again, it can be seen that the bridgehouse 7 spans the full width of the ship, and the crosssection of thebridge house is streamlined and shaped exactly like that of an airplanewingsection but much enlarged. By virtue of this wing-shaped airfoil,the bridge house 7 has exactly the same action as thatof an enlargedairplane wing, i.e., it creates an aerodynamic lift when travelingforward in air. And because of its foremost location, it contributes asubstantial amount of additional uplift with a maximum moment arm orleverage about the center of gravity of the ship, thereby furtherlifting the front portion of the hulls 2 and 3 out of water while movingthrough water rapidly.

The above paragraphs explain the fundamental dynamics of my hydro-wingship; how the lift for the hulls 2 and 3 is created; how the drag andresistance in water are substantially reduced; and as a result, how highspeed equal to or surpassing the airplane take-off or landing speedcanbe realized. 1 i

The following paragraphs further explain the secondary but otherwiseimportant features of construction.

Referring to FIGURES 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, it can be seen that themajor structure of the ship is essentially constructed by separating aconventional hull along the longitudinal vertical'central plane;covering up the planes of separation 1 on each half to form two floatinghulls 2 and 3; interchanging positions of the two; separating furtherapart and then connecting by three major bridgelike structures across atthree levels, (a) the hydro-wing 4, (b) the flight deck 5, and (c) thelanding deck 6 with the bridge house 7 in front.

The hydro-wing 4 is located at the lowest level. Its underneath surfaceand the flat bottoms of the two parted hulls 2 and 3 are coplanar and,together, form a continuous near-flat surface. When the stem is liftedup above water, this continuous surface acts if it were a water ski,greatly enhanced, of course, as compared to the size of a conventionalwater ski.

The flight deck is located directly above the hydrowing 4. The width ofthe flight deck 5 extends sidewise at the same level, over and includingthe two parted hulls 2 and 3. The flight deck 5 itself is a double-deckstructure, with both the stem and stern ends covered up with curved-overplates as shown. The top deck 5 is the flght deck; while the spaceinbetween the top and the bottom decks serves as crews quarters, storageand cargo space. The underneath surface of the lower deck 16 (see FIG. 2or 6) is covered with smooth plates so that it also contribute part ofthe hydrodynamic lift. It also serves as the double bottoms of aconventional ship and, together with the hulls 2 and 3 on both sides andthe hydro-wing 4 below, forms a rectangular water tunnel 26.

At the front portion of the flight deck 5 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 5) and at adistance considered adequate to provide parking area for an airplane, isa louvre-type rolling partition 17. This partition serves to deflect thejet or propeller blast sidewards through exit ports 18 (see FIGS. 1 and5) to the atmosphere, thus protecting the other airplanes and personnelat the rear. After the first has taken off, this partition will berolled aside to allow the next airplane in the rear to advance to thetake-off position. The partition 17 will then be closed again.

Immediately behind the rolling partition 17 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) is theget-ready area where the subsequent airplanes are parked in line. Behindthis area and near the stern is a platform-elevator 19 for transferringairplanes from the landing deck 6 to flight deck 5, or vice versa. Thisplatform is contoured like the letter T approximating the plan-viewprofile of the airplane and, when raised, fits exactly into and flushwith a correspondingly profiled opening directly above in the landingdeck 6. The operation of this elevator, up and down, is by means of ahydraulic telescopic shaft 20 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) sunken vertically inthe flight deck at the position indicated.

The landing deck 6 is essentially a flat platform supported on bothsides by the alleyway casings 21 and 22, shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7. Thisalleyway is provided for interdeck foot traflic by means of ladders 23,and also passages from stem to stern and vice versa. It also serves thepurpose of observation stations by the crew members of the landing deck6. Openings are provided for the crew members to crawl out to thelanding deck 6 when necessary.

For the airplane to land, the speed of the ship is to be adjusted,through radio and radar coordination with the incoming airplane pilot,to match the landing speed of the airplane. (In other words, therelative speed disparity of the two, the airplane and the ship, will bereduced to near-zero.) Thus after touchdown, the rolling distance of thelanded airplane is at a minimum and is limited to dozens of feet. Undersuch a condition, the airplane can be arrested readily by conventionalarresting devices, not shown.

The arrangement of the landing deck 6 above the flight deck 5, flankedat both sides by the alleyway casings 21 and 22 (see FIGS. 1 and 4)forms in e fect a wind tunnel of rectangular cross section. Thiswind-tunnel effect has the outstanding advantage of directing theairstream in the line of flight and greatly assist airborne stability atthe instant of taking off.

For propulsion of the ship, two types of power plants are used; the highspeed diesel engines 24 for normal cruising (see FIGS. 2 and 3) and theaero engines, piston type or turbo-jets 25, for boosting the cruisingspeed to take-off speed.

For purposes of clarification with respect to the language employed inthe appended claims, please note the following:

The previously mentioned two floating hulls 2 and 3 may be said tocomprise similar longitudinal left and right hollow buoyant ship hullportions having similar substantially flat bottom planing surface parts2b and 3b, as best shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7. In the exemplary forms ofthe invention illustrated, said ship hull portions 2 and 3 have similarinwardly convex side wall parts 2c and 30 as best shown in FIGS. 6, 7and 9 and also have similar oppositely outwardly directed, substantiallyflat, outer side wall parts comprising the previously mentioned outerplates or walls 1 which lie in similar laterally spaced substantiallyvertical planes.

The two hulls portions 2 and 3 are effectively laterally interconnectedin laterally spaced substantially parallel relationship by what might begenerally termed interconnection means which, in its broadest form,merely comprises the bottom hydro-wing means designated by the referencenumeral 4 in the first form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 7and 9 (and having a flat bottom planing surface 4b) and designated bythe reference numerals 8 and 9 in the tandem hydro-wing modification ofthe invention shown in FIGS. 2 and 8. However, in the exemplary forms ofthe invention illustrated, said interconnection means also is shown asincluding a vertically intermediate aircraft flight take-off deck meanswhich comprises the previously mentioned flight deck 5, and is alsoshown as including a vertically uppermost aircraft landing deck meanswhich, in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, comprises thepreviously mentioned landing deck 6 which is carried by the previouslymentioned alleyway casings 21 and 22, which may be said to comprise theupper extensions referred to in the appended claims. The previouslyreferred to navigation bridge 7 may be said to comprise the laterallydirected bridge-house referred to in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hydro-wing ship comprising: substantially similar longitudinal leftand right hollow buoyant ship hull portions having similar substantiallyflat bottom planing surface parts and being provided with laterallydirected interconnection means rigidly joining and connecting said hullportions together in laterally spaced, substantially parallelrelationship with said bottom planing surface parts lying in a commonbottom plane, said interconnection means comprising hydro-wing meansextending in a lateral span-wise direction between said laterallyseparated hull portions adjacent to the bottoms thereof and being ofsusbtantial longitudinal extent in a chord-wise fore-and-aft directionand having a substantially flat bottom planing surface part lying insaid common bottom plane and contiguous with and connected to saidbottom surface parts of said ship hull portions and, together therewith,comprising an integral water ski, said hydro-wing means having an uppersurface part effectively upwardly convexly curved along a longitudinalfore-and-aft direction to define a hydrofoil adapted to producehydrodynamic lift in response to movement thereof in a longitudinalfore-and-aft direction through a body of water; said ship hull portionsbeing provided with similar upper extensions projecting upwardlytherefrom adjacent to outer sides of said ship hull portions and rigidlyintegrally connected thereto, said interconnection means also comprisinga substantially horizontal intermediate aircraft flight take-off deckmeans rigidly connected laterally between said separated ship hullportions at a level vertically spaced above said hydro-wing means and asubstantially horizontal uppermost aircraft landing deck means rigidlyconnected later-ally between said separated ship hull portions adjacentto the tops of said upper extensions thereof at a level verticallyspaced above said intermediate aircraft flight take-off deck means.

2. A hydro-wing ship comprising: substantially similar longitudinal leftand right hollow buoyant ship hull portions having similar substantiallyflat bottom planing surface parts and being provided with laterallydirected interconnection means rigidly joining and connecting said hullportions together in laterally spaced, substantially parallelrelationship with said bottom planing surface parts lying in a commonbottom plane, said interconnection means comprising hydro-wing meansextending in a lateral span-wise direction between said laterallyseparated hull portions adjacent to the bottoms thereof and being ofsubstantial longitudinal extent in a chordwise fore'and-aft directionand having a substantially flat bottom planing surface part lying insaid common bottom plane and contiguous with and connected to saidbottom surface parts of said ship hull portions and, together therewith,comprising an integral water ski, said hydro-wing means having an uppersurface part effectively upwardly convexly curved along a longitudinalfore-and-aft direction to define a hydrofoil adapted to producehydrodynamic lift in response to movement thereof in a longitudinalfore-and-aft direction through a body of water; said ship hull portionsbeing provided with similar upper extensions projecting upwardlytherefrom adjacent to outer sides of said ship hull portions and rigidlyintegrally connected thereto, said interconnection means also comprisinga substantially horizontal intermediate aircraft flight take-off deckmeans rigidly connected laterally between said separated ship hullportions at a level vertically spaced above said hydr-wing means and asubstantially horizontal uppermost aircraft landing deck means rigidlyconnected laterally between said separated ship hull portions adjacentto the tops of said upper extensions thereof at a level verticallyspaced above said intermediate aircraft flight take-off deck means, and,together therewith, defining and comprising longitudinal wind tunnelmeans operable to effectively longitudinally collimate air flowtherethrough whereby to greatly increase the air-borne stability of anaircraft during take-off.

3. A hydro-wing ship comprising: substantially similar longitudinal leftand right hollow buoyant ship hull portions having similar substantiallyflat bottom planing surface parts and being provided with laterallydirected interconnection means rigidly joining and connecting said hullportions together in laterally spaced, substantially parallelrelationship with said bottom planing surface parts lying in a commonbottom plane, said interconnection means comprising hydro-wing meansextending in a lateral spanwise direction between said laterallyseparated hull portions adjacent to the bottoms thereof and being ofsubstantial longitudinal extent in a chord-wise foreand-aft directionand having a substantially flat bottom planing surface part lying insaid common bottom plane and contiguous with and connected to saidbottom surface parts of said ship hull portions and, together therewith,comprising an integral water ski, said hydro-wing means having an uppersurface part effectively upwardly convexly curved along a longitudinalfore-and-aft direction to define a hydrofoil adapted to producehydrodynamic lift in response to movement thereof in a longitudinalforeand-aft direction through a body of water; said ship hull portionsbeing provided with similar upper extensions projecting upwardlytherefrom adjacent to outer sides of said ship hull portions and rigidlyintegrally connected thereto, said interconnection means also comprisinga substantially horizontal intermediate aircraft flight take-off deckmeans rigidly connected laterally between said sepah rated ship hullportions at a level vertically spaced above said hydro-wing means and asubstantially horizontal uppermost aircraft landing deck means rigidlyconnected laterally between said separated ship hull portions adjacentto the tops of said upper extensions thereof at a level verticallyspaced above said intermediate aircraft flight take-off deck means, thefront of said uppermost aircraft landing deck means and correspondingfront parts of said upper extensions being provided with a laterallydirected bridge-house extending the width thereof and having thecross-sectional shape of an airfoil in a longitudinal direction toeffectively define and comprise an aerodynamic wing section adapted toproduce aerodynamic lift in response to movement thereof in a longitudinal fore-and-aft direction through ambient atmosphere.

4. A hydro-wing ship comprising: substantially similar longitudinal leftand right hollow buoyant ship hull portions having similar substantiallyfiat bottom planing surface parts and being provided with laterallydirected interconnection means rigidly joining and connecting said hullportions together in laterally spaced, substantially parallelrelationship with said bottom planing surface parts lying in a commonbottom plane, said interconnection means comprising hydrowing meansextending in .a lateral spanwise direction between said laterallyseparated hull portions adjacent to the bottoms thereof and being ofsubstantial longitudinal extent in a chord-wise fore-and-aft directionand having a substantially flat bottom planing surface part lying insaid common bottom plane and contiguous with and connected to saidbottom surface parts of said ship hull portions and, together therewith,comprising an integral water ski, said hydro-wing means having an uppersurface part effectively upwardly convexly curved along a longitudinalfore-and-aft direction to define a hydrofoil adapted to producehydrodynamic lift in response to movement thereof in a longitudinalforeand-aft direction through a body of water; said ship hull portionsbeing provided with similar upper extensions projecting upwardlytherefrom adjacent to outer sides of said ship hull portions and rigidlyintegrally connected thereto, said interconnection means also comprisinga substantially horizontal intermediate aircraft fiight take-off deckmeans rigidly connected laterally between said separated ship hullportions at a level vertically spaced above said hydro-wing means and asubstantially horizontal uppermost aircraft landing deck means rigidlyconnected laterally between said separated ship hull portions adjacentto the tops of said upper extensions thereof at a level verticallyspaced above said intermediate aircraft flight take-off deck means, saidupper extensions compri ing hollow enclosed passageway means forfacilitating travel between various portions of the ship.

5. A hydro-wing ship comprising: substantially similar longitudinal leftand right hollow buoyant ship hull portions having similar substantiallyflat bottom planing surface parts and being provided with laterallydirected interconnection means rigidly joining and connecting said hullportions together in laterally spaced, substantially parallelrelationship with said bottom planing surface parts lying in a commonbottom plane, said interconnection means comprising hydro-wing meansextending in a lateral spanwise direction between said laterallyseparated hull portions adjacent to the bottoms thereof and being ofsubstantial longitudinal extent in a chord-wise fore-andaft directionand having a substantially flat bottom planing surface part lying insaid common bottom plane and contiguous with and connected to saidbottom surface parts of said ship hull portions and, together therewith,comprising an integral water ski, said hydro-wing means having an uppersurface part effectively upwardly convexly curved along a longitudinalfore-and-aft direction to define a hydrofoil adapted to producehydrodynamic lift in response to movement thereof in a longitudinalforeand-aft direction through a body of water; said ship hull portionsbeing provided with similar upper extensions projecting upwardlytherefrom adjacent to outer sides of said ship hull portions and rigidlyintegrally connected thereto, said interconnection means also comprisinga sub stanti-ally horizontal intermediate aircraft flight take-off deckmeans rigidly connected laterally between said separated ship hullportions at a level vertically spaced above said hydro-wing means and asubstantially horizontal uppermost aircraft landing deck means rigidlyconnected laterally between said separated ship hull portions adjacentto the tops of said upper extensions thereof at a level verticallyspaced above said intermediate aircraft flight take-off deck means, and,together therewith, defining and comprising longitudinal wind tunnelmeans operable to effectively longitudinally collimate air flowtherethrough whereby to greatly increase the air-borne stability of anaircraft during take-off, the front of said uppermost aircraft landingdeck means and corresponding front parts of said upper extensions beingprovided with a laterally directed bridge-house extending the Widththereof and having the cross-sectional shape of an airfoil in alongitudinal direction to effectively define and comprise an aerodynamicWing section adapted to produce aerodynamic lift in response to movementthereof in a longitudinal fore-and-aft direction through ambientatmosphere.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/45 Kelly 114-6110/11 Loetzer 115-39 12/13 Currie 114-665 4/18 Fowler 115-39 3/20Gafiney 114-435 8/44 Persson 114-665 8/ 45 Fechtenburg 114-61 8/46 Creed114-61 4/48 Neel 114-61 6/48 Warner 114-665 3/49 Wood 114-61 1/ 64Warner 114-665 FOREIGN PATENTS 11/ 37 France. 9/58 France. 5/62 GreatBritain.

OTHER REFERENCES Aviation Week and Space Technology, Oct. 30, 1961.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Primary Examiner.

MELTON BUCHLER, Examiner.

1. A HYDRO-WING SHIP COMPRISING: SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR LONGITUDINAL LEFTAND RIGHT HOLLOW BUOYANT SHIP HULL PORTIONS HAVING SIMILAR SUBSTANTIALLYFLAT BOTTOM PLANING SURFACE PARTS AND BEING PROVIDED WITH LATERALLYDIRECTED INTERCONNECTION MEANS RIGIDLY JOINING AND CONNECTING SAID HULLPORTIONS TOGETHER IN LATERALLY SOACED, SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLELRELATIONSHIP WITH SAID BOTTOM PLANING SURFACE PARTS LYING IN A COMMONBOTTOM PLANE, SAID INTERCONNECTION MEANS COMPRISING HYDRO-WING MEANSEXTENDING IN A LATERAL SPAN-WISE DIRECTION BETWEEN SAID LATERALLYSEPARATED HULL PORTIONS ADJACENT TO THE BOTTOMS THEREOF AND BEING OFSUBSTANTIAL LONGITUDINAL EXTENT IN A CHORD-WISE FORE-AND-AFT DIRECTIONAND HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT BOTTOM PLANING SURFACE PART LYING INSAID COMMON BOTTOM PLANE AND CONTIGUOUS WITH AND CONNECTED TO SAIDBOTTOM SURFACE PARTS OF SAID SHIP HULL PORTIONS AND, TOGETHER THEREWITH,COMPRISING AN INTEGRAL WATER SKI, SAID HYDRO-WING MEANS HAVING AN UPPERSURFACE PART EFFECTIVELY UPWARDLY CONVEXLY CURVED ALONG A LONGITUDINALFORE-AND-AFT DIRECTION TO DEFINE A HYDROFOIL ADAPTED TO PRODUCEHYDRODYNAMIC LIFT IN RESPONSE TO MOVEMENT THEREOF IN A LONGITUDINALFORE-AND-AFT DIRECTION THROUGH A BODY OF WATER; SAID SHIP HULL PORTIONSBEING PROVIDED WITH SIMILAR UPPER EXTENSION PROJECTING UPWARDLYTHEREFROM ADJACENT TO OUTER SIDES OF SAID SHIP HULL PORTIONS AND RIGIDLYINTEGRALLY CONNECTED THERETO, SAID INTERCONNECTION MEANS ALSO COMPRISINGA SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL INTERMEDIATE AIRCRAFT FLIGHT TAKE-OFF DECKMEANS RIGIDLY CONNECTED LATERALLY BETWEEN SAID SEPARATED SHIP HULLPORTIONS AT A LEVEL VERTICALLY SPACED ABOVE SAID HYDRO-WING MEANS AND ASUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL UPPERMOST AIRCRAFT LANDING DECK MEANS RIGIDLYCONNECTED LATERALLY BETWEEN SAID SEPARATED SHIP HULL PORTIONS ADJACENTTO THE TOPS OF SAID UPPER EXTENSIONS THEREOF AT A LEVEL VERTICALLYSPACED ABOVE SAID INTERMEDIATE AIRCRAFT FLIGHT TAKE-OFF DECK MEANS.